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Mary Fisher Goucher [a biography]

Page 1

Mary Fisher Goucher ,
by Kathryn Allamong Jacob ,
Though President John Goucher's friendliness and success at mingling with people is often fondly recalled, his private journal reveals that such things had not always come easily to him. On April 2, 1869, as a newly graduated Methodist minister of twenty-four in charge of his first congregation in Baltimore, he wrote:,
I find the calling about the hardest part of the work. I am naturally sociable at home, but I dislike going away , I shall try to cultivate a disposition of friendliness and sociability, and I will try to make a few calls tomorrow afternoon.,
True to his word, at sunset the next day he was able to write:,
I , called on , Dr. Fisher. The doctor is a fine Christian character, I think, as I ever met, wealthy, but very pious and devout, he spends his time and money in the services of God.,
This was Dr. Goucher's first call at Alto Dale, the beautiful estate, near what is now Pikesville, of Dr. John Fisher and his family. It would not be his last. Though he and Dr. Fisher shared an interest in Sunday School management, John Goucher soon found something even more appealing at Alto Dale. He didn't meet Mary Cecilia Fisher on his first visit, but they met a few evenings later. He was immediately attracted by the loveliness, graciousness and spirituality of the quiet, nineteen-year old Miss Fisher. They soon became friends and, after a courtship of eight years, finally married when he was thirty-two and she, twenty-seven.,
Mary Fisher's ancestors on both sides of her family were English and had settled in Maryland more than a century and a half before her birth. She was born in Cecil County on March 22, 1850, and shortly thereafter the Fishers moved to Alto Dale. Both her father and her uncle, William, were doctors. Both valued education highly and John Fisher was determined that Mary and her sister would receive the best. Attending female seminaries, Mary became fluent in French, which she read as well as she did English. She delighted in playing anagrams and other word games, usually besting opponents easily.,
Small, red-haired, and afflicted with a slight limp from a childhood illness, Mary Fisher's photographs show a beautiful woman. Yet, when Dr. Fisher was finally asked for his daughter's hand in marriage he implied that John Goucher wanted her money rather than Mary, for she already had a considerable fortune of her own given to her by her father and bachelor uncle. Unruffled, the young minister candidly replied,"I want her for her own sake, but I think I could do a great deal of good with the money, too., Dr. Fisher reportedly was so pleased with the response that he readily gave his consent.,
Mary Celilia [sic] Fisher and John Franklin Goucher planned to be married in February of 1878, but three days before Christmas in 1877 Dr. Fisher died. They were married on Christmas eve in a simple ceremony. Deciding against a wedding trip, the Gouchers always called the later trips they took together their delayed honeymoons. On the eve,

Mary Fisher Goucher ,
by Kathryn Allamong Jacob ,
Though President John Goucher's friendliness and success at mingling with people is often fondly recalled, his private journal reveals that such things had not always come easily to him. On April 2, 1869, as a newly graduated Methodist minister of twenty-four in charge of his first congregation in Baltimore, he wrote:,
I find the calling about the hardest part of the work. I am naturally sociable at home, but I dislike going away , I shall try to cultivate a disposition of friendliness and sociability, and I will try to make a few calls tomorrow afternoon.,
True to his word, at sunset the next day he was able to write:,
I , called on , Dr. Fisher. The doctor is a fine Christian character, I think, as I ever met, wealthy, but very pious and devout, he spends his time and money in the services of God.,
This was Dr. Goucher's first call at Alto Dale, the beautiful estate, near what is now Pikesville, of Dr. John Fisher and his family. It would not be his last. Though he and Dr. Fisher shared an interest in Sunday School management, John Goucher soon found something even more appealing at Alto Dale. He didn't meet Mary Cecilia Fisher on his first visit, but they met a few evenings later. He was immediately attracted by the loveliness, graciousness and spirituality of the quiet, nineteen-year old Miss Fisher. They soon became friends and, after a courtship of eight years, finally married when he was thirty-two and she, twenty-seven.,
Mary Fisher's ancestors on both sides of her family were English and had settled in Maryland more than a century and a half before her birth. She was born in Cecil County on March 22, 1850, and shortly thereafter the Fishers moved to Alto Dale. Both her father and her uncle, William, were doctors. Both valued education highly and John Fisher was determined that Mary and her sister would receive the best. Attending female seminaries, Mary became fluent in French, which she read as well as she did English. She delighted in playing anagrams and other word games, usually besting opponents easily.,
Small, red-haired, and afflicted with a slight limp from a childhood illness, Mary Fisher's photographs show a beautiful woman. Yet, when Dr. Fisher was finally asked for his daughter's hand in marriage he implied that John Goucher wanted her money rather than Mary, for she already had a considerable fortune of her own given to her by her father and bachelor uncle. Unruffled, the young minister candidly replied,"I want her for her own sake, but I think I could do a great deal of good with the money, too., Dr. Fisher reportedly was so pleased with the response that he readily gave his consent.,
Mary Celilia [sic] Fisher and John Franklin Goucher planned to be married in February of 1878, but three days before Christmas in 1877 Dr. Fisher died. They were married on Christmas eve in a simple ceremony. Deciding against a wedding trip, the Gouchers always called the later trips they took together their delayed honeymoons. On the eve,